We organize ‚Welcome Dinner‘ in Hamburg – Hamburg locals inviting refugees and immigrants over for dinner. The idea behind it: Many refugees and immigrants hardly get to know the locals, let alone their homes. Many locals want to welcome the refugees and new ‚Hamburgers‘ into their city, but do not know how, or have little time to get involved. A dinner in one’s own home is something very personal; a gesture of friendship. The idea has already been successfully implemented in Sweden for a year – hosts and guests post an impressive number of pictures to their Facebook page.

How it works

The host registers him-/herself in our form, noting his/her desired date. We make a connection between the host and guest. We also try to make sure that both don’t live too far apart from each other. Three to five days before the dinner we will contact the host and tell him/her who is coming to dinner, including the name, country of origin, and whether the guest has any specific food preferences, for example: they do not eat pork. The host will then contact the guest, for example via text message, and send him/her the address and the exact time of the dinner. We meet the guests in language courses in Hamburg. We present our idea in language schools and to training providers. We make sure that the guests already speak some German, by, for example, visiting advanced German courses. There is also the possibility for guests to submit the form online.

The Dinner

What you cook, how much time you spend with each other, and if you decide to meet again: That’s completely up to you. Often the guest reciprocates with a dinner invitation, but that’s not a must. It would be great if you took a photo of your meeting and sent it to us (only with the consent of the guest, of course). We would then publish the picture here and on our Facebook page (which is why we need the guests consent).